System for ventilation of mines.



No. 888,073. PATENTED MAY 19, 1908. W. E. ELLIOTT & J. G. WILSON.

SYSTEM FOR VENTILATION OF MINES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 1, 1909,

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unrrn srajras s nchron s ion.

WILLIAM E. ELLIOTT AND JOHN G. WILSON, OF SHARON, PENNS YLVANIA.

SYSTEM FOR VENTILATION OF MINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 19, 1908.

Application filed February 1, 1908. Serial No. $18,858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, W'ILLIAM E. ELLIoT'r and JOHN G. WILsoN, citizens of the United States, residing at Sharon, in the county of Mercer and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements Systems for Ventilation of Mines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention pertains to improvements in the ventilation of coal and other mines,

divi ual alleries from a ipe lying on the surface of t e ground. T e proposed piping systems for primary ventilation are impractical for two main reasons. known the minimum amount of fresh air required for men working under ground is 100 cubic feet per minute for each man and for horses and mules, from three to six times that amount each. The limited capacity of pipes whose size would not interfere with the working of the mine makes it impossible for suf- -iic1ent air to be supplied by that means in mines employing a large number of men. Second, althou h where the mine is tapped in anumber of p aces and the main lies wholly on the surface of the ground, the main may be of any size, yet the great cost of sinking the shafts, especially where the main drive lies hundreds of feet below the surface, prohibits the use of this system. The other sysems namely, directing currents of air throughout the various drives, leads and gallerieshas been found to sup ily sufficient air for breath ing )urposes under normal conditions but liowever, sufficient means for carrying ex losive gases and mixtures out of the mines. hcpresent invention therefore conte'mplates an auxiliary system of ventilation for accomplishing the latter result. The main ventilating system may he of any preferred type as the installation of our auxi iary systom in any mine will not interfere with the working or efliciency there in use.

The gas which is most generally dreaded in mines is CH, commonly known as fire damp,

First, as is well While it is true that this forms the. main constituent of the gases causing mine ex losions, yet special precautions need not be ta on as to it, since its presence in sufficient volume to cause, per se, an explosion may be readily detected. The general concurrence of all mining authorities now is that coal dust, rather than fire damp, plays the most important part in colliery explosions. CH by itself must be present to an extent of at least 5% to be explosive, while 11 to 12% give the most violent explosive gas. However, as has been conclusively proven, as small an amount as 1% of this gas mixedwith coal dust and air form an explosive mixture, while 3% of it mixed with coal dust and air gives a mixture of tremendous explosive power. This coal dust, which is present to a great extent in all collieries, clinging to notches, floor, sides and ceiling, is practically unaffected by the main air current. Even laborious brushing and dampening is but a temporary expedient and the many recent disasters have proven the necessity of carrying it completely out of the mine. To accomplish this purpose we provide a system of two parallel pipes which extend throughout all the drives, leads and galleries of the mine. In the main drives the pipes are of much greater diameter than those branching off therefrom, and valves/0r dampers are provided by which the branch pipes extending into any drive may be out off from the mains. These parallel pipes lie upon the flooring of the drives and to one side of the tracking,

the pipe nearer the wall being the air supply pipe and the other the exhaust pipe. The former is provided with threaded nipples, directed toward the roof of the drive and at right angles to the direction of the pi e. To the exhaust pipes are secured, at t e same distance apart as the nipples, funnels, which funnels, however, are placed midway between the air inlets. The funnels are flat bottomed and are attached to the exhaust pipe on the side nearer the center of the drive. The apex of the funnel surrounds a smooth bore tap in the exhaust pipe. we have provided means for directing auxiliary currents of air in a course at substantia ly right angles to the main air current. We therefore obtain a continual mixing of these currents and the air is kept in a continuall agitated condition, so that, as the air is awn into the exhaust pipe the coal It will thus be seen that dust is sucked in with it and. carried from the mine. or course the outer partoi the auxilis present its detection by ordinary means becomes very difiicult or impossible. It can thus be seen how important it is that means should be devised for disposing of the coal dust that converts less than 5% of fire damp into an explosive mixture.

Another object of this invention is, by placing these parallel pipes on the flooring of the drives, to provide certain and eficient means for ventilating any part of the mine that may be cut on by acave-in and also to carry away the poisonous carbon monoxid and other gases that result fiom explosions and that causes, so often, the death of imprisoned miners.

A further object is to provide means for flooding any part of a mine with water or steam in case of fire, by cutting off the air compressor, and by closing the proper nipples and main valves and connecting t e inlet pipe to a water or steam supply, to direct such streams to the seat of the fire, thus obviating the necessity of an extra system of water pipes.

Our invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings wherein is illustrated one of the various possible embodiments of our invention; Figure 1 represents a sectional view of the workings of a mine showing our invention applied thereto,

, rangement of the exhaust pipe being broken away in part for the sake of clearness; Fig. 2. is across sectional view, on a larger scale, taken on line 22 of Fig.; i and looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 3: is a erspective view of the pipes, showing the a ternate arthe inlet nipples and exhaust funnels; Fig. 4. is a cross section through a funnel and the exhaust pipe, and-Fig. 5. is a cross sectional view of the inlet pipe on a larger scale, showing a threaded and valved niplple thereon.

eierring to the various figures in which like'reference charactersdesignate like parts,

the "ves leading therefrom.

C is the boiler and engine house and D, a steam pipe leading from the'boiler to the air fire (lamp is pres- A rep-:psents the main shaft of a mine and B seems inlet main E, said steam pipe being provided with a valveF which is normally closed.

G is an air compressor, which may be of any approved type, and by means of which a constant supply of air under pressure is atforded the air 1nlet main E and pipes E.

H, H are the threaded ni pics on the air inletpipes and K, K the va ves with which each nipple is provided, the nipples being threaded to afford means for hose connection in case of a small fire, while the valves allow all the nipples not wanted open in such an exigency to be closed.

L, L are valves on the air inlet pipes by means of which the-pipes in any drive may be closed. Similar valves or dam ers are provided for the pipes in each ga lery or chamber. M is an air exhaust fan which ma be of the Guibal, Waddle, Schiele, Cap= pel or any preferred type. Q is the exhaust main and O the exhaust pipes, the latter bein prbvided with smooth bore taps at re ar intervals, over each of which is a funne P. The funnels are the same distance apart as the air inlets nipples and it will be noted that the tunnels are placed midway between the nipples so as to alternate with them. This arrangement is of the highest importance in that no fresh air is taken 1n by the exhauster until ithas made a more or less complete circuit of the drive. By havin the nipples pointing upward and the funne s facing the drive side op osite to that a ainst which the pipes are laid, the current oi air is forced to ass up one side, across the roof, down the ot er side and return across the bottom of the nels.- In case a blower of CH, is struck, a hose having a funnel at one end and a fitting of rubber or similar substance in the form of a truncated cone at the other end, would be utilized. By insertin the fitting in the smooth bore tap of tlr holding the other end of the hoseup to the blower,- the escaping gas would be quickly carried from the mine.

During the circulation ofou sfauxiliary air current the particles of coal dust are being constantly drawn into the exhaust pipes and the powerful suction will carry them to the surface where they may be carried by pipes into vats of water and from the resu ting liquor various products may be obtained.

, Or if preferred traps S which may be of any provided at preferred construction may be e, in Which certain interval in the exhaust pithe coal dust will be collecte removed.

While we have describedi one method of carr'yin out our invention it should be understood that various changes may be made without depiirting from t e spirit 0t our inverition, w 'ch contemplates, broadly, the

creating of currents-of air transverse of the drives in a mine.

e exhaust pipe and and then drive to the exhaust fung Having thus described our invention, what We claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a system for the ventilation of mines, means for creating a current of air at substantially ri ht angles to the direction of the length of a rive, said means including alternately spaced air inlets and outlets, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a system for the ventilation of mines, the combination with the main air current, of means for creatin a current of air at substantially right angl es to the main air current, saidmeans including alternately s aced air inlets and-outlets, substantially as s own and described.

3. In a system for the ventilation of mines, the combination with mine drives, leads and galleries, of means for directing a current of air transversely thereof, saidmeans including alternately spaced air inlets and outlets substantially as shown and described. i

4. In a system for the ventilation of mines, means for directing a current of air against the sides, topand bottom of a drive, and

means for withdrawing the current from the drive substantially as shown and described.

5. In a system for ventilating mines, means for producing a circulation of air around the sides, top and bottom of a drive,

substantially. as and for the purpose set.

forth.

.6. In a system for ventilating mines, the combination of parallel pipes extending throughout the mine, said pipes' lying on the same side of the drive, means for supplyin air underpressure to one of the pipes an means for withdrawing the air from the pipeF1 substantially asand for the purpose set branching therefrom, vand said mains and pipes having currents of air passing therethrough, the two currents flowing in opposite directions, as and for the purpose set forth.

8. In combination, the drives, leads or galleries of a mine, parallel pipes lying therein, means for forcing air out of one pi e through nipples on said pipe and into t e other, the air leavingand entering the ,pipes at right angles to the direction of their length, as and for the purpose set forth.

9. In a system for ventilating mines, the combination with the leads or drives of a mine, or parallel pipes extending therethrough bothpipeslying on the same side thereof, nipples onone pipe and funnels on the other, as and .for the purpose set forth. 1

. 10. In a system'of mine ventilation, the

7. In a systemfor ventilating mines, the combination with the main ventilating sys-v tem, of two parallel mains, parallel pipes ,for' carrying coal combination of two parallel pipes, means for forcing air out of one pipe in a direction atright angles to its length, and means for drawing air into the other pipe in a direction at rightangles to its length and the outlet in the first pipe, as and for thepurpose set forth. l 11. In a mine, the combination of parallel ipes lying on the flooring of the drives, lieads 01 galleries, and to one side" of the center thereof, air outlets at regular intervals on the pipes nearer the side and inlets the same distance apart on the other pipe, as and for the purpose set forth.

12. In a mine, the combination of parallel pipes extending along the drives, leads or galleries, and in close proximity to one side, means for expelling airfrom one of the pipes and for drawing air into the. other pipe in a direction at right angles first pipe, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. v

13. In a mine, the combination of two parallel pipes, ta s for the admission and discharge of air t e same distance apart on each pipe, the taps on one ipe occurring midway 'between those on the other, substantially as shown and described.

14. In a mine, the combination of two parallel pipes extending therethrough, outlet nipples on one pipe for directing a' currentof air madirection at right angles. to that pipe e and parallel to one wall, and inlets on t other pipe,said inlets facing the opposite wall, as and 'for the purpose set forth. 1.5. In a mine ventilating system,means dust and other substances from amine, said means consisting of two parallel pipes extending, throughout all ,the

galleries of the mine, outlet at regular intervals on-one s occurring at the same intervals on the other pipe and alternating with the in ples, means for directing currents of air in the opposite directions 111 the two pipes respectively, substantially as shown and described. V

'16. Ina coal mine, the combination of means for maintaining ,the coal dust and gases in a constantly agitated condition andmeans for withdrawing the mixture and separatin the coal dust tially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof-we. have afiixed our signatures, in presence of two witnesses.

eads, dr ves and nipples occurrin pipe, inlet funne therefrom, substan- WILLIAM E. ELLIOTTLID JOHN G. WILSO 

